When someone is victimized like this, they don't hate bitcoin. They loath it, with a visceral kind of disgust that prevents their ever seeing it as something they would choose to use. It is the tool of their enemy and persecuter.
So if the bitcoin community wants to survive and thrive, we need to figure out how to destroy the ability of ransomware hackers to utilize bitcoin. Either that or track the hackers down and make them wish to God they had turned themselves into the police rather than facing vigilante justice designed to ensure that no one ever makes the same choice they made.
Yes, savage vigilante justice because that's what god uses against us. Spoken like a true Christian. If we don't agree with them, burn them at the stake, stone them or wage war against them.
Sorry, that was intemperate, wasn't it? I should not have encouraged vigilante action. It's just that I don't have much confidence in secular western judicial systems and their coddling of criminals. (In the United States, for example, the government is so far off the rails of the Constitution that there is no meaningful legitimate government to honor per Romans 13 without dishonoring the Constitution, which is supposed to be our highest human authority.)
But on the flip side you make it sound ("don't agree with them") as if it is just a matter of opinion that what they are doing is wrong, such that it's just intolerant bigots who would lift a finger against them. If we were arguing about what to put on a pizza that would be a matter of opinion. By contrast these are clearly immoral criminal acts of theft and destruction of property.
So I'll moderate my remarks and just ask that if and when authorities catch up with them, that they require the criminals to provide full restitution plus 20% for all the time and money and headaches involved in their activities. They should also be required to personally apologize to any of their victims who is willing to give them a hearing.